Why SETI Isn't Working

you like to believe
you're special,
we know you do,
your transmissions
tell us so.
 
you want to think
you are the only
intelligence,
unique among the stars
exhalted in that special
right-hand place beside
that strangeness
you call God.

and you are special
but not the way you think
you are unique
among all species
that try so hard
to reach new worlds
beyond their own.

for where others
are the stewards
of their worlds
careful with the
fragility of life,
you are the cancer
slowly eating yours.

and when that life
you need to live
is finally consumed
we know that you
will try to rape
another world
around a new
and unsuspecting star.

this is why when
you look out from
your world
and listen to
the space
between the stars
you hear no voices
you see no evidence
you find nothing
when you know
there should
be something.

it really is
just common sense
if you found
a psychotic presence
standing on
your doorstep
with a loaded weapon
and care for none
would you let
that creature
in your home,
or near your family?

then why should we?